Three Canadians’ memories of Mandela

Jessica Barrett, Postmedia News12.06.2013

Nelson and Winnie Mandela give black power salutes as they enter Soccer City stadium in the Soweto township of Johannesburg shortly after his release from 27 years in prison on Feb. 13, 1990 . Liberal MP Ralph Goodale recounts the tale of how Mandela became lost in the mob of well-wishers for 45 minutes on his way to the stadium.Udo Weitz/The Associated Press/File
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Liberal MP Ralph Goodale rises during question period in the House of Commons Thursday November 21, 2013 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldTHE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
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OTTAWA, ON: APRIL 3, 2012 - James Bartleman poses outside the newly christened James Bartleman Archives and Library Material Centre in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Bartleman is the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and also served for 35 years in Canad's Foreign Service. (photo by Mike Carroccetto / The Ottawa Citizen)(photo by Mike Carroccetto / The Ottawa Citizen)
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OTTAWA – In their own words, three Canadians who encountered the iconic South African leader Nelson Mandela recount favourite stories or memories.

RALPH GOODALE

Liberal MP and former finance minister Ralph Goodale met Mandela twice — during Mandela’s state trips to Canada in 1998 and 2001. But his favourite tale came by way of Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s finance minister from 1996 to 2009, and a close confidant of Mandela’s. As Goodale recalls, Manuel often told of his harrowing experience with Mandela on the day that, for most South Africans, was one of sheer joy.

“His job the day Mandela was released from prison was to meet Mandela as soon as he got out of the precinct and to get him as quickly as possible from there to the soccer stadium downtown where he was to deliver a speech to tens of thousands of people.

“Well, it was just a sea of humanity, all the way from the prison to the soccer stadium and Trevor’s job was to make sure Mandela gets there. He met him right outside the prison – it was this turbulent mass of people – and Trevor lost him in the crowd. He lost him, for 45 minutes!

“He had no idea where he was in this churning sea of humanity. And then, Trevor said, it was just like a cork popped up out of the water. There was Mandela being carried along by the crowd.

“He said he got a hold of him and he tied their arms together so he wouldn’t lose him again.

“He said, ‘It was my one job, get him to the soccer stadium, and I just about blew it.’ “

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CHRISTOPHER WESTDAL

Christopher Westdal, Canadian ambassador to South Africa from 1991 to 1993, has many memories of Mandela. Although Westdal, like many who worked with Mandela, was awed by the respect and civility he could command as a leader, he says it was Mandela’s personal touch that stayed with him through the years. He talks about bringing his new wife to South Africa.

“By accident, on the very day she arrived, we went to a wedding of Canadian journalist Lucy Pagé and an African National Congress labour man, Jay Naidoo.

“To cut a long story short, we were delivered to the wrong door of this mansion in Johannesburg where the reception was. We walked up the stairs, opened the door and there, sitting on the couch, was Nelson Mandela. So the first South African I ever introduced my wife to was Nelson Mandela.

“But the point is, he never forgot her, and through all the years I was there he would ask after her by name.

“It was just a little personal insight into what his charisma felt like and what his leadership felt like. It always felt very generous. You always felt privileged to be in the company of this man.

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JAMES BARTLEMAN

James Bartleman, Canadian High Commissioner in South Africa from 1998 to 1999, had met dozens of world leaders but was particularly excited to meet Mandela for the first time upon arriving in Pretoria. Bartleman was struck by Mandela’s compassion for the prejudicial leaders he replaced.

“Mandela was coming to Canada, so they rushed through the process of presenting my credentials to him so that I would be able to go back to Canada and meet him at the plane. And he lived at the home of the president, which had formerly been the residence of (South African president Frederik Willem) de Klerk and the other apartheid leaders.

“It was a very formal occasion: They came for me in official protocol cars, and my wife and I went off to this beautiful house in Pretoria with beautiful big gardens. We were ushered in and waited in an anteroom.

“What struck me was the fact that on the walls were all the old paintings of the Dutch and Boer leadership of the country over the past 100 years. And it surprised me a little bit, but not too much, that the new president of South Africa had made no changes. He had inherited that, and that was part of the South Africa that he now led, which was a South Africa of reconciliation. No change whatsoever in the décor”

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